The picture is incredible and looks very life like due to its incredible handling of contrast. The colours are even more stunning than the contrasts it produces and this alone makes the HD8600 truly wonderful to watch.

The interchangeable lenses are a huge plus and allow you to put it basically anywhere in your theater and get the size of the picture you want. The Lens Shift feature they have is basically flawless as well and is perfect for adding last minute adjustments to your picture.

That is not to say that this projector is perfect though. Features like the PureMotion, which tends to be less than completely accurate and a bit jerky, maybe should have been left for next years model and given a little more polish. Similarly, the PureDetail goes a little bit overboard with the edge enhancement and tends to make the picture look unreal and cluttered at the edges.

Although the extra little options may not be perfect, the HD8600 is absolutely stellar at projecting an incredibly stunning picture onto basically any surface. Picture quality here is unmatched by anything else they’ve ever produced and you’d be hard pressed to find another projector in the entire market that you like better. When this projector is calibrated properly, you have one of the best HD home theaters money can buy. Good show ol’ boy.

It does lack the powered zoom and focus features of other comparable models but keep in mind that these other models are comparable not because of their prices, but because of their performance.  The Epson Home Cinema 8100 is incredibly easy to set up and use for basically anybody and its value is unparalleled making it one of the most consumer friendly projectors ever released.

The Epson 8100 is an incredible achievement with no real flaws that I can discern. Although it is the little brother to last year’s Epson 6100, it outperforms it in every single way to the point of surprising nearly everybody in the industry.  What’s more is that it does all this at a much cheaper price to boot.  It is one of the best ways you can spend money on a home theater projector and one of my favorites to come along in a long time.  Please, pick up this projector if it is in your price range because I guarantee that you won’t regret it.

What really sets these high end projectors apart from their cheaper counterparts are the little extras you get that make the projector much more versatile.  The PT-AE3000U features a 2.0 times zoom that is capable of casting a 120-inch image on a screen from an incredible distance of only 3.6 meters. The projector also makes use of its red rich lamp to increase the overall luminance efficiency of the picture.  It also has a high precision optical lens unit, Panasonic’s Pure color Filter Pro and Smooth Screen Technologies, and a dynamic iris to give you even more leeway. Panasonic has even included their new Frame Creation 2 feature which aids in creating sharp and clear images when fast moving scenes are occurring.

The PT-AE4000U makes use of VIERA Link and has two programmable 12V trigger terminals.  Panasonic also made sure it had three HDMI terminals for basically anything you could ever want to plug into the projector and gave it support of x.v.Color and Deep Color just to make sure you were happy.

Keep in mind though, that as the camera shifts between the two screens, some brightness may be lost for a couple seconds while the camera lens adjusts.  Also, when the video is compressed into flash video for the web, there might be some artifacts visible.  These artifacts are strictly the byproducts of the compression and have nothing to do with the way the projectors perform.  There are problems with filming projectors work but I think this video does an incredible job of comparing the two projectors visually which is not a luxury most people are afforded.

So what does it all come down to?If you are looking to get into the full HD home theater projector market but have a limited budget, you can spend $1000 and get a 1080p 300-inch picture with really good black levels in a small easy to transport case, if you’re willing to sacrifice features.  On the other hand, if you are looking at upgrading to a full HD theater projector with an incredibly crisp image, some flexibility in how and where you install the projector due to a 2x zoom and lens shift, then the higher end LCD home theater projectors are what you are looking for.

Personally, I think that if you were to spend $999 on an Optoma HD20, a projector that’s truly worth the $999 price tag, you might as well spend the extra $300 and get a $5,000 projector in the Viewsonic PRO8100. I have said it before but this is in my opinion the best price going for a quality home theater projector.

If for some reason you have an aversion to ViewSonic, or you simply don’t have the extra $300 to drop on it, here are the links for the most popular high end LCD and entry level DLP home theater projectors.

High End LCD Home Theater Projectors

• Viewsonic PRO8100 (My favorite deal going right now. A $5,000 projector for $1,300)
• Epson PowerLite Home Cinema 6500UB(also a great projector for the price, but the price is twice as much)
• Panasonic PT-AE3000U(this one is a fan favorite for a reason, there isn’t a single rating less than five star on Amazon)

New Entry Level DLP Projectors

• Optoma HD20(seems to be the favorite, but it’s the only one currently shipping)
• Vivitek h3080FD(my pick for entry level DLP HD projectors, from stats only)
• BenQ W1000(big fan of BenQ and really looking forward to this little guy’s arrival)

The LS-3 and LS5 projectors will make use of a single DLP chip and your choice of two lens options to suit your room size making them incredibly versatile entry level projectors.  The main difference between the LS-3 and LS-5 is the lamp.  The LS-3 features a standard 230 watt lamp producing 1,000 lumens meanwhile, the LS-5 uses a 180 watt lamp that produces the same amount of light saving you some money on energy costs.  Tested, the LS-5 produced 751 ANSI lumens and a contrast ratio of 481:1 while the LS-3 performed marginally poorer with 691 ANSI lumens and a contrast ratio of 385:1.

The flagship of the entry models is the LS-7.  It features three DLP chips instead of just the one chip in the other two models.  This greatly improves picture and colour quality and sets it apart from the rest.  The LS-7 comes with six lenses making it a very versatile model.  Combine that with powered vertical and horizontal shift and I really can’t believe this is classified as an entry model. The LS-7s tested stats are a little more impressive than his little brothers’ too.  It is said to produce 1,708 ANSI lumens at a contrast ratio of 251:1.

The pricing for these three new projectors is where they really differ. The LS-3 sells for $4,995.00, the LS-5 for $6,995.00, and the LS-7 for $15,495.00. Runco projectors are not entry level projectors, these are just entry level Runcos. I guess I’m getting a little closer to my dream projector. Not much though.

All that being said, I look forward to this low-end 1080p projector more than any other this year. According to BenQ’s released statistics, it doesn’t quite measure up to the HD20’s contrast ratio, but as I’ve said many times before, and will say many times in the future, you simply can not trust manufacturer’s statistics. All three of the sub $1,000 DLP 1080p projectors sport the TI DLP chip so they are all very similar. Where they will differ though is in lenses and basically everything else that goes into making a projector.

I really can’t get enough of the case. Look at that faux leather texture on the silver part of the casing; it is stunning. The W1000 is by far my favorite of the cheap 1080p projectors aesthetically but we’ll have to wait to see if it outperforms the Optoma HD20 and Vivitek h3080FD. All three projectors should be on the market and shipping to happy households by the end of October but we should be able to compare the W1000 to the HD20 on October 5th. Be sure we’ll keep you posted.

The Viewsonic PRO8100 mocks others with it’s incredible 1080p resolution, 2Fine liquid crystal panel, the ever impressive silicon optix reon-VX high perormance video processor sporting the Hollywood Quality Video stamp of approval. It makes for stunning HD movies, videos and television while letting you control it with IR and RS-232 remotes for absolute unification with your current system. The PRO8100 also makes use of ViewSonic’s Percision Colour System technology to provide a very advanced and customizable colour tuning studio that is capable of 3D colour management, auto contrast and 33 levels of gamma correction. Among the other input ports on the back are two HDMI 1.3 and two component video inputs to make sure you can get everything plugged in.

My guess is that ViewSonic wants to take a nibble at the low priced 1080p projector pie. As the name behind the product gets better, the prices do get higher though. Vivtek stars us out with the h308FD at $999, followed by Optoma with the HD20 at $1099 and now ViewSonic with the PRO8100 at $1,346.06. I have to say that the ViewSonic PRO8100 is the best projector that you can buy for under $1,500. This is one of the best deals in home theater projector history. If you were looking, you’re not anymore. Go pick it up.

All of the projectors also make use of a brand new 0.7-inch full HD D-ILA device designed by JVC themselves. The projectors will also take advantage of a new wire-grid optical system to boost visual quality. Although the prices for these projectors might be higher than what you’d expect, the statistics should blow you away. The $10,000 DLA-RS35 and HD990 will boast insane 70,000:1 contrast ratios. The HD500 mocks the competition with a 30,000:1 ratio with the RS15 slightly ahead at 32,000:1. Similarly, in the middle of the new line-up, the RS25 and HD950 are packing a 50,000:1 contrast ratio.

As is the trend nowadays, all six projectors will be 1080p native making sure that you have the best picture available on your wall. Pricing for these bad boys runs from $5,000 to $10,000 and should begin shipping by the end of the month. I have to say that this is the most impressive line of projectors that I’ve seen from JVC both visually and statistically. I am really looking forward to what these will do in the real world. You’ll be sure that each one will get it’s own time to shine with a writeup and a review right here.

The new A600 is splashed with a glossy black finish and sports the same rounded edges as the A800 and A900. Samsung is trying to please everyone with this projector so in addition to the full HD capabilities, they made it weigh less than 13 pounds and kept it extremely quiet. The lamp is said to consume 220 watts of energy and last for 4,000 hours in economy mode and 3,000 hours at full brightness. It is also capable of an incredibly short throw ratio of just 1.99 which makes it perfect for mounting on the roof or playing from a table in front of you.

As per usual, Samsung makes sure it’s quite easy for you to plug your goodies into it. There are two HDMI inputs, an S-Video input, and both composite and component inputs. It’s also incredibly easy to connect to your PC. They have inputs for the much loved 15-pin VGA style input which makes it perfect for work presentations or streaming video from the web. Samsung’s new projector boasts 1,000 ANSI lumens blasting through a DLP optical engine with a 3,000:1 contrast ratio and a 6 segment colour wheel.

And all this from a company you trust for just $1795. When they start showing up on the internet, you know I’ll be the first one to show you where.